The foundations of thoracic surgery in Varna were laid with the establishment of the first surgical department, based on the City Hospital - Varna. With the opening of the Medical University of Medicine - Varna in 1961, the Department of Surgical Diseases was also established, which initially used the base of the surgical department of the City Hospital. The founder and first head of the department (until 1963) was Associate Professor Dr. Petar Altunkov. In 1967, the department moved to the newly built block on the territory of the Clinical Hospital - Varna. In 1969, Dr. Yako Kuzmanov was elected assistant and together with Dr. D. Trifonov, also an assistant, were sent by Prof. Altunkov to specialize in thoracic surgery at the Institute of Thoracic Surgery and the Clinic of Thoracic Surgery at the Institute of Pulmonary Diseases in Sofia. Later, they organized a Department of Thoracic Surgery at the Clinic of Surgery. It became the foundation on which the Clinic of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery was built. Some of the first heads of this clinic were Prof. Dr. L. Marinova and Assoc. Prof. Dr. L. Gospodinov. As head of the Department of Hospital Surgery, Prof. Stoychev also contributed to the development and expansion of the volume of thoracic surgeries performed.
After 1989, with the habilitation as associate professor of Dr. Kuzmanov, an independent Clinic of Thoracic Surgery was established at the Department of Surgical Diseases. Its founder and first head since 1990 was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yako Kuzmanov. During this period, Dr. Radoslav Radev, Dr. Rumen Nenkov and Dr. Stefan Kornovski worked as assistants in the clinic, and Dr. Georgi Slavov and Dr. Samuil Kuzmanov worked as residents. The scope of work included emergency and planned thoracic surgery, diseases of the breast and thyroid gland.
In 2001, the Thoracic Surgery Clinic was relocated to the University Hospital "St. Marina" - Varna. Since 2003, the head of the clinic has been Assoc. Prof. Radoslav Radev - a student of Assoc. Prof. Yako Kuzmanov. He defended his dissertation degree "Doctor" in 2000 and was habilitated as an associate professor in 2003. From 2004 to 2011, Assoc. Prof. Radev was the head of the Department of Surgical Diseases.
The volume of surgical interventions performed includes planned and emergency lung surgery, surgery of the mediastinum and chest wall, breast, thyroid and parathyroid glands. The clinic accepts an average of 1000 patients for treatment per year, and the number of surgical operations performed is over 900.
In 2007 Dr. Rumen Nenkov defended his doctoral dissertation and became an associate professor at the Clinic of Thoracic Surgery in 2012.
Associate Professor Radev and Associate Professor Nenkov were approved as national consultants for providing specialized consultative and methodological assistance to hospitals in Northeastern Bulgaria. Since 2013, Associate Professor Radev has been an associate professor at the Department of Surgical Diseases.
The main scientific topics of the clinic during this period are: application of thoracoscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the chest; treatment of purulent diseases of the lung and pleura; fibroendoscopic deobstruction of the trachea and large bronchi in malignant and benign diseases (joint development with the Endoscopic Diagnostics Unit); surgical treatment of malignant diseases of the thyroid and breast. The following surgical methods have been implemented: metal fixation of an unstable sternum; video-assisted microthoracotomy; three-dimensional thoracoscopy; postoperative analgesia in patients with pulmonary surgical interventions, argon-plasma resection in diseases of the lung and thyroid gland.
The clinic's collaborators participate as authors and co-authors in over 300 national and international scientific forums and publications in domestic and foreign journals, 6 textbooks and manuals on thoracic surgery for students, residents and surgeons.
In 2018, Assoc. Prof. Rumen Nenkov was habilitated as a professor, and since 2019. he has been the head of the Clinic of Thoracic Surgery.
The implementation of modern minimally invasive approaches is the basis of the current activity of the clinic.
The main clinical directions in which the clinic works are: application of VATS in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the lung, mediastinum and pleura; minimally invasive approach in the treatment of acute mediastinitis and pleural effusions; minimally invasive surgical treatment of benign and malignant diseases of the thyroid and parathyroid glands with an ultrasonic scalpel; diagnostics and surgical treatment in full volume of diseases of the breast.
The following modern surgical techniques have been implemented: uniportal and multiport VATS, ultrasonic resection of the thyroid gland and axillary dissection, reconstructive surgeries for breast carcinoma using an ultrasonic scalpel.
The clinic's collaborators participate as authors and co-authors in over 300 national and international scientific forums and publications in domestic and foreign journals, 6 textbooks and manuals on thoracic surgery for students, residents and surgeons.
In 2018, Assoc. Prof. Rumen Nenkov was habilitated as a professor, and since 2019 he has been the head of the Clinic of Thoracic Surgery.
The implementation of modern minimally invasive approaches is the basis of the clinic's current activities.
The main clinical areas in which the clinic works are: application of VATS in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the lung, mediastinum and pleura; minimally invasive approach in the treatment of acute mediastinitis and pleural effusions; minimally invasive surgical treatment of benign and malignant diseases of the thyroid and parathyroid glands with an ultrasonic scalpel; diagnostics and full-scale surgical treatment of diseases of the breast.
The following modern surgical techniques have been implemented: uniportal and multiport VATS, ultrasound-guided thyroid resection and axillary dissection, reconstructive surgeries for breast cancer using an ultrasonic scalpel.
The doctors at the clinic have long-term and short-term specializations, courses and trainings in leading centers of thoracic medicine in Germany, Great Britain, Slovenia, China, the Czech Republic, Greece and the USA, have repeatedly appeared as invited speakers at numerous international conferences and congresses on thoracic surgery, as well as a number of publications in national and foreign specialized scientific journals. The clinic maintains close contacts with leading centers and specialists in thoracic surgery from all over the world.
Over the past years, the Clinic has been a base for training, specialization and improvement of young doctors, with its teachers participating in the state examination boards for acquiring a specialty in "Thoracic Surgery". The Clinic of Thoracic Surgery trains 4th and 5th year medical students, nurses, interns, doctoral students and residents. The Clinic of Thoracic Surgery is a base for conducting postgraduate training.
The associates of the clinic are members of the Bulgarian Surgical Society (BSC), the Bulgarian Society of Pulmonary Diseases, the Bulgarian Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Medical Union, the Bulgarian Society of Endocrinology, the Working Group on Endocrine Surgery at the BSC, the European Thyroid Association, BTOG / British Thoracic Oncology Group/, E.A.E.S. (European Association for Endoscopic Surgery), Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Chirurgie (German Surgical Society), ETOP /European Thoracic Oncology Platform/, ESTS /European Society for Thoracic Surgery/.
